Title, description and keywords - Google advice wanted

[hero1979]

Hi All,

I am following the right instructions of optimizing website and not jumping to optimize the big keywords but related ones that still contain them.
How can I eventually get results for the big keywords only and when is the right time to change title description and keywords?

Thanks

[tedster]

Hello hero, and welcome to the forums.

As in many things, the devil's in the details. In this case, the important detail is what exactly you are doing to "optimize". For example, if a "big" keyword appears too often in your navigational anchor text, you may never rank well for it even though you rank well for phrases that contain it.

Don't have any concern for the meat keywords tag at all - it really is a dead duck. And the meta description may have some influence, but it's not primary.

However, the title element is the powerhouse. It's good to follow the old carpenter's adage here: measure twice, cut once. There is some evidence that frequent changes to title elements can cause problems.

If you hope to compete on really big "trophy" keywords, most of what you will need is backlinks. The off-page factors will make the difference. So I'd start with the best title element you c an come up with from the beginning, and move on.

[anallawalla]

hero1979,

When one of my sites was young and competition for its money term was high I found that fiddling with the words in the title element would take months to regain previous positions. 5-6 years on, I can play with the title tag without losing my position, because of good anchor text backlinks for my main term.

The description tag should contain something that will make the searcher click the result.

The meta keywords tag will only be used by Yahoo.

[hero1979]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the info.
So basically what I need to do is think of a power title that combines the "big" keyword and stick to it. is that correct and can I use the keyword twice in title?
Also - how important it is to add the below Meta tags? Some say it doesn't help for ranking and I would like to know:
<meta name="robots" content="noodp">
<meta name="robots" content="index, follow">
<meta name="GOOGLEBOT" content="index, follow">

[Pico_Train]

Why bother with:

<meta name="GOOGLEBOT" content="index, follow">

When you already have:
<meta name="robots" content="index, follow">

It's redundant, no?

[tedster]

The default for meta robots is index,follow - no need to include that either. The only time you need it is when you want some non-default situation, such as "noindex,follow" or "index,nofollow" or "noindex,nofollow".

[hero1979]

Thanks for that.
I have anoter thing on my mind.
I found that high ranking websites have many backlinks but non of those links also appear on their website so how come Google give them the credibility when there is no partnership? Is that the way I should act as well?
Thanks.

[tedster]

Google (and other search engines) love to see backlinks that are only one way. This kind of freely given link often represents an unbiased "vote of approval" for the site - no partnership, no reciprocal linking, no "incestuous" relationship of any kind. Just some other site that like what they see enough to link to it.

[hero1979]

So then money talks in this case? (pay to be linked)

[tedster]

Not really - if Google detects that a link is paid, it will still show up in your backlinks but it won't have any power to help your rankings.

What talks is a website that is a good enough resource that others will freely link to it on their own.

[tangor]

have many backlinks but non of those links also appear on their website

Interesting. How can there be a back link if there is no link? I want to know how that is done. I want that kind of link juice!

[tedster]

I think the backlink is on an external site, but there's no reciprocal link on the site itself.

[hero1979]

Hi Tedster,
I meant paying a high rank website to put a link there.
Google can never find it out.

[tedster]

A lot of people who thought that have been very surprised over the past year. If it's a one-time arrangement, then it certainly may go undetected for a long time. But how often are such things just one-time? The pattern over time has often tipped Google to what's happening - as well as paid link reports from the comeptition.

However, many of the one-way backlinks you find will be completely legitimate. And those are what help you the most. Reciprocal links only take a site just so far.

[hero1979]

So what is the best way to get good backlinks to rank high without waiting for a high rank site to link back to me? (if they decide to do so)
If I approach them and ask them to put my link on. I'm not too sure when my site is not ranked high yet.
Thanks

[aristotle]

You appear to be looking for simple, easy solutions when in most cases there aren't any. If you are truly serious about long-term success, what you first need to do is to create a better website for your chosen subject than anyone else has. Mainly this means better, more informative, more original content. After you do that, then you can start working on SEO details like titles, descriptioons and backlinks.

[tedster]

Mainly this means better, more informative, more original content.

Absolutely true - think this way "What content can I put online that will really be a help to this niche?" People naturally link to information that is helpful.

[BradleyT]

The next stop for you should be
[webmasterworld.com...]